Juan Carlos Valerón

Early years

Born in Arguineguín, Gran Canaria, Valerón started playing with hometown's Las Palmas, but switched to the Balearic Islands in the 1997–98 season, representing Mallorca and making his La Liga debut on 31 August 1997 by playing ten minutes in a 2–1 home win over Valencia. He was an instrumental figure in the club's qualification for the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, with the team also finishing fifth in the league and reaching the final of the Copa del Rey, lost to eventual champions Barcelona in a penalty shoot-out.

Atlético and Deportivo

In the next two years, Valerón played for Atlético Madrid where he was an undisputed starter but, following the side's relegation in 2000, he joined Deportivo de La Coruña, sharing club and position with equally talented Brazilian Djalminha. He gradually would become first choice, signing a contract to eventually see off the remainder of his career with the Galicians in February 2004. In January 2006, however, Valerón started a bad run with injuries. He suffered a knee injury which relapsed in July and early 2007 (with him only managing two league appearances in the process), leading to another surgery. Consequently, he did not reappear until midway through the 2007–08 campaign.

On 27 January 2008, Valerón returned to the bench in Deportivo's 3–1 home win against Real Valladolid, coming on as a substitute for Andrés Guardado for the final 15 minutes – his first match for over a year. In 2008–09, aged 33, he…

A Spain international since 18 November 1998 in a 2–2 friendly draw with Italy in Salerno, Valerón appeared with the national side at UEFA Euro 2000, the 2002 FIFA World Cup (where he scored in a 3–1 win against Slovenia) and Euro 2004, netting immediately after coming from the bench in a 1–0 victory over Russia in the latter competition. He made his last appearance for his country on 26 March 2005, a 3–0 defeat of China. In late July 2019, he was hired by the Canarian Football Federation to be responsible for the several teams in the region that took part in the corresponding competitions.

Shortly after retiring, Valerón began working as a manager after completing the UEFA B course. He was appointed youth coach at Las Palmas and, ahead of the 2017–18 season, was named assistant to Manolo Márquez in the first team; the latter left his position three months later, however, and the former returned to the academy. On 24 January 2018, Valerón agreed to join Juan Manuel Rodríguez's staff at Las Palmas B, the reserve team. He resigned from his post in June for personal reasons, but the following January resumed his work with the youth sides. Valerón returned to his former club Deportivo in June 2020, being appointed manager of the reserves in the Tercera División.

Valerón's older brother, Miguel Ángel, was also a footballer and a midfielder; having represented Las Palmas and Mallorca B, his career was also curtailed by injuries. Later, together with another sibling, Pedro, they created a football club/school named Abrisajac, from biblical characters Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and Juan Carlos still played there one year before retiring for good. Valerón was a close friend of fellow Canarian Manuel Pablo, who also played for Las Palmas, Deportivo and Spain. He was also known for his devotion to God, but admitted that he and his family did not follow any religion. Valerón's nephew, Manu, also played youth football for Las Palmas.